- Trump addresses 2025 achievements amid low approval ratings.
- The survey shows that only 33% approve of Trump’s economic management.
- The speech can promote policies that will be implemented next year.
In a rare afternoon speech from the White House, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday boasted of his achievements and blamed his Democratic predecessor for rising consumer prices as his party prepares for a tough midterm election next year.
“Eleven months ago I inherited a mess and I’m fixing it,” Trump said in his opening remarks.
The Republican president, who regularly complains that he doesn’t get credit for his accomplishments, praised his administration’s work this year on a range of issues, from reducing border crossings to lowering prices on some goods.
The speech offered an opportunity for the president, if he could stay on message, to address people’s concerns about affordability, an issue that Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly referred to as a Democratic hoax. And again on Wednesday he blamed the previous administration led by former President Joe Biden, even as Trump admitted prices remain high.
“I’m bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very quickly,” he said.
Trump’s Republicans are seeking to maintain control of the House and Senate in next year’s November elections, while Democrats are highlighting concerns about affordability and differences over health policy in a bid to wrest power.
High inflation during Biden’s four years in office helped Trump defeat former Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s election. But Trump’s tariff policies this year have created uncertainty and driven up prices in an economy that has now been overseen by his administration for nearly a year, and Trump, like Biden before him, has been struggling to persuade Americans that the economy is healthy.
a new ReutersTuesday’s Ipsos poll showed that only 33% of American adults approve of the way Trump has handled the economy.
Trump’s remarks took place in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room and not in the Oval Office, as is typically the case in presidential speeches.
Before the speech, the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, maintained that Trump had not kept his campaign promises.
“He promised he would cut costs from day one. That was his number one promise. That was the number one reason he won the election. And the costs are going up and up,” Schumer said at a news conference on Capitol Hill.
